1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to automated invoice systems and methods, and more particularly to an automated invoice system for verifying compliance with United States Customs regulations on imported goods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, import declarations on the value of imported goods are made at the time goods come into the United States. The importer must declare the dutiable value of merchandise. The final appraisement is fixed by the United States Customs Service. Several appraisement methods are used to arrive at this value. The transaction value serves as the primary basis of appraisement, wherein the transaction value is the price actually paid or payable by the buyer (supplier) to the seller for the goods imported. Other factors may also add to the dutiable value of merchandise, such as packing costs, selling commissions, royalty or licensing fees, etc. When the transaction value cannot be determined, then the value of the imported goods being appraised is the transaction value of identical merchandise. However, if merchandise identical to the imported goods cannot be found, or an acceptable transaction value for such merchandise does not exist, then the value is the transaction value of similar merchandise. Similar merchandise means merchandise that is produced in the same country and by the same person as the merchandise being appraised. It must be commercially interchangeable with the merchandise being appraised. Moreover, the identical or similar merchandise must have been exported to the United States at or about the same time the merchandise being appraised is exported to the United States.
However, invoices from foreign suppliers are usually submitted sometime thereafter. Occasionally, audits are performed by the United States Customs Service to verify and compare the value of the goods as declared versus the value as actually paid (as indicated on a paid invoice). Under 19 U.S.C. 1509, the United States Customs Service may examine records to ascertain the correctness and determine the importers' liability for duty, fees and taxes due the United States.
Conventional systems perform this verification process at the time when an audit occurs (usually by a random sampling of declarations), which precipitates a company to scramble to get the invoices, proof of payment, and other documentation that match a given declaration, in order to prove the actual value paid for the goods.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,588 issued to Tozzoli, et al., the complete disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, teaches a system of facilitating payment for transactions involving international sales of goods, whereby the seller is a foreign entity. However, the system disclosed in Tozzoli only verifies that each portion of a transaction, for a sale of goods, relates to the corresponding purchase order and criteria established by the funder, which is usually a bank, and possibly by the trade system, and then generates payment instructions accordingly.
However, this system, and others like it, suggests that the criterion for deciding whether payment is to be made is determined by the entity providing the funding, and not necessarily the trade system; i.e., the statutes and regulations governing importing/exporting, namely, those regulations pertaining to the United States Customs Service. Furthermore, most conventional systems do not necessarily verify if the transaction complies with United States Customs Service regulations; at least not before the invoice is paid and the aforementioned auditing process occurs.
Thus, there is a need for a new and improved system, which performs the verification (matching of the declaration and invoice for value of goods) before the invoice is paid and before an audit occurs.